House of Representatives

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by the authority of the Minister for Social Services, the Hon Kevin Andrews MP)

Schedule 8 - Relocation scholarships

Summary

This Schedule will restrict qualification for the relocation scholarship payment to students relocating to or from regional or remote areas from 1 January 2015. Students relocating from major cities will only remain qualified for a relocation scholarship payment if they relocate to a regional or remote area.

Background

This measure will continue to recognise the reduced level of course and institution choice in regional and remote areas and the higher proportion of regional or remote students who need to relocate to study, compared to students from major cities.

Students from major cities are more likely than students from regional or remote areas to have a suitable education institution near to their parental home.

The relocation scholarship payment is currently paid at a rate of $4,145 in the first year the student is required to live away from home and $1,036 each year thereafter for students relocating from major cities (2014 rates). Recognising that they may have higher costs, students relocating from regional or remote areas are paid at a higher rate of $2,073 in the second and third year they are required to live away from home to study.

Qualification for the relocation scholarship payment is restricted to recipients of youth allowance (or ABSTUDY recipients under equivalent provisions in the ABSTUDY policy manual) undertaking higher education or higher education preparatory courses.

The amendments made by this Schedule commence on 1 January 2015.

Explanation of the changes

Item 1 amends section 592K of the Social Security Act to add further circumstances in which a person is not qualified for a relocation scholarship payment despite being otherwise qualified under section 592J.

The first circumstance, as dealt with by new subsection 592K(6), covers people who are not independent (as defined in section 1067A) but who are 'required to live away from home' at the time their qualification is to be determined. Such people are not qualified for a relocation scholarship payment where, on the day the person started to undertake the course that would have otherwise qualified them for payment under paragraph 592J(d), each of the person's parents lived in a major city location (as defined by new subsection 592K(9)), and the person's place of study (as decided in accordance with principles made under new subsection 592K(8)) is also in a major city location. This rule is intended to ensure that, for persons who are not independent but are required to live away from home, they are not paid a relocation scholarship payment when they have relocated from a major city (where their parents live) to the same or another major city.

The second circumstance, as dealt with by new subsection 592K(7), covers people who are independent, but only as a result of one of a certain range of subsections in section 1067A of the Social Security Act: subsection (3), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9) or (11)). Such people are not qualified for a relocation scholarship payment if, six months before starting to undertake the course that would have otherwise qualified them for payment under paragraph 592J(d), the person's usual place of residence was in a major city location and, at the qualification time, the person's place of study is also in a major city location. This rule is intended to ensure that people, who are independent under the provisions referred to in new paragraph 592K(7)(a) are not paid a relocation scholarship payment where they have remained in a major city location, or relocated between major city locations, to study.

New subsection 592K(8) will provide power to the Secretary to make a legislative instrument outlining principles that must be complied with by decision-makers when deciding a person's place of study at a particular time. These principles will be able to address a range of study scenarios, including when a person is studying through attending classes, conducting research or fieldwork, or is studying online. A legislative instrument will enable the rule-maker to adapt the principles flexibly to various study scenarios as they arise.

New subsection 592K(9) defines the term major city location as used in new subsections 592K(6) and (7). The term will mean a location categorised as one of the 'Major Cities of Australia' under the 'Remoteness Structure' referred to in subsection 1067A(10F) of the Social Security Act. Under subsection 1067A(10F), the default Remoteness Structure is as described in the Australian Bureau of Statistics publication, Statistical Geography Volume 1 Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) July 2006, or other Australian Bureau of Statistics document that may be declared under subsection 1067A(10G) as a replacement document (for example, if new data becomes available from a more recent census).

As at the date of introduction of the Bill, there is some useful information on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website about the 'Remoteness Structure' here:

http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/remoteness+structure ,

and on the Doctor Connect website here:

http://www.doctorconnect.gov.au/internet/otd/Publishing.nsf/Content/locator .

Item 2 is an application provision to clarify that the amendment made by the Schedule applies from commencement of the Schedule onwards in relation to qualification for a relocation scholarship payment following that date (irrespective of whether qualification is, following commencement, being determined for a person who has received qualification payments prior to commencement).